Koukash: Red Devils won’t appeal Hock ban

Salford Red Devils owner Dr Marwan Koukash has revealed the club are not going to appeal the RFL’s decision to ban Gareth Hock for seven games.

The troubled former Wigan and Widnes star was found to have made deliberate contact with a match official in Salford’s match against Hull FC last week.

When the RFL charged the troubled former England star, Koukash initially tweeted his support to Hock, claiming the club would “defend” their man.

However, his mind has been changed and Koukash again took to Twitter to confirm no further action would be taken. He wrote: “Not going to waste time and money on appealing. Hope our players make sure that Hock plays again this season. Let’s move on.

“Was I surprised ?, (sic) not at all. It took the RFL less than 3 minutes to announce it . Very efficient for once. Fairness, transparency and consistency is all as a Club we have ever asked.

“What was the action taken when the longest serving member of my team was verbally abused by an RFL member of staff?”

If Salford don’t make the play-offs, Hock will have played his last game of the 2014 season.